Fish Cam – The Hardware

I set out to make the camera system as inexpensive as possible, and I really thing making it Raspberry Pi based is the way to accomplish that. This same setup could be used for a motion sensitive IP security cam, a Sky Cam for weather conditions, a motion sensitive Bird Cam, or as I plan to do, a simple camera for taking photos of my fish pond.

The hardware I’m using:

Raspberry Pi Zero – $5.00

Raspbery Pi Camera – $29.95

Pi Zero camera cable – $5.95

Camera Board – about $9.50

Wifi Adapter – $11.95

micro to USB OTG adapter – $2.95

8GB MicroSD card – $9.95

micro USB power adapter – $7.95

And to get the initial setup done, you’ll need:
MicroHDMI to HDMI adaptor – $2.95
plus some sort of monitor, keyboard, mouse, temporarily.

It’s possible to find a “Starter Kit” which will have a lot of these items pre-bundled.

For Version 2 of this project I’ll also need:
2 x 20 header – $0.95
Enviro pHat – $19.95

Of course, I still have to figure out how to mount the board looking at the fish pond. I’m all set now for looking out a window, but not for looking down at a fish pond.

Note: Since I initially wrote this, there is now a Raspberry Pi Zero W that includes onboard WiFi, eliminating the need for a seperate USB WiFi adapter. 

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